All I Want For Christmas
by Hellsender
Summary: On Christmas Day, one net idol learns what a true Christmas gift is all about from one occultist. OC/Chisame, OC/Negi Brotherly love


A/N: I do not own Negima, only my character, Leigh Constantine: Hellsender. Just FYI, this will not be canon to my story's continuity. I wanna dedicate this to my reviewer/internet friend **Frankie Elric**. Without her, urging me to keep writing, I wouldn't have written something in over a year.

All I Want For Christmas

**Christmas time is here**

**Happiness and cheer**

**Fun for all that children call**

**Their favorite time of the year  
**

_Mahora Academy Girls' Dormitory, Christmas Day  
_

Christmas Day, one of the very pinnacles of the year, the all-time anniversary of the late great savior, the epitome of commercialism, a time of giving joy, hope and peace on Earth. No matter where one lived in the world, all dark corners have been lit alive by the holiday. Even at the prestigious Mahora Academy, the spirit was widespread. Due to a heavy snowstorm that prevented any of the trains from leaving, all of the students and staff were forbidden from traveling home for the holidays. Naturally, this left quite a number very unhappy. But for a certain middle school class of girls known as 2A, where everyone was treated like family, unhappiness was NEVER an option.

Leigh Constantine peacefully sat in an armchair in the lobby of the girls' dormitory where his own gaggle of students of Class 2A was in their own celebration of the holiday, quietly chewing on a sugar cookie baked by one Satsuki Yotsuba. At his feet was a considerably large pile of presents, all from each of his students. Of course this didn't compare to the stockpile that was from other female middle school students, even from the high-school girls. Across from him, happily chatting away with a number of the girls was his colleague/apprentice/little-brother figure, Negi Springfield. Both boys were dressed in matching sweaters specially knitted for them by Chizuru. In fact, all of them were dressed in clothing that reflected the theme of Christmas, displaying the flashy colors of red, green and white.

The co-homeroom teacher of this class was especially exhausted, as he and his "Um, P-professor Constantine?"

The said person looked up, staring into the violet, twinkling irises of Nodoka Miyazaki peeking out from her matching bangs. In her small hands was a decorated cup filled with a golden, piping hot liquid. This was a bit out of the ordinary for the class bookworm to interact with him, with her sensitivity of being remotely near a male. It was no secret that she held an unrequited crush towards Negi, and was practically the only boy she was comfortable being with. But what brought her here, he wondered.

"I-I-I'm wondering if you'd like s-some hot apple c-cider," she asked lightly, holding out the drink to him, "it's really good."

Constantine smiled politely to Nodoka, eliciting a ruby red flush upon her cheeks as he gently took the cup from her hands, "Thank you very much Nodoka, that's very sweet of you."

The said girl added some more blood to the blush on her face, replying with a quick "you're welcome" before bowing and retreating back to her two best friends Yue and Haruna. A number of the girls, namely Ayaka felt some pangs of jealousy towards the bookworm and mentally smacking themselves for not offering Constantine a cup of hot cider sooner.

With a small chuckle Constantine took the cinnamon-rich cider into his lips and drank deeply…

…which was blatantly interrupted by a hard slap at his vertebrae courtesy of a tomboyish redhead with green and blue eyes, pigtails tied by bells and a toothy smile. Constantine violently coughed as some of the liquid ended up into his lungs thanks to Asuna's greeting back-slap.

"Merry Christmas, Con-man!" Asuna greeted him, smiling at him with all teeth, a Santa's hat anointing her head like everybody else.

Still panting and glaring stonily at Asuna, Constantine managed to gruff out, "Hello, Asuna." Catching his wind he continued, "I take it from your cheery mood that you like your gift."

Asuna gave him a thumbs up, "Hell yeah! **Halo 3: ODST** is the BEST! I'm halfway through the game!"

Yes, Negi and he spent a lot of work, time and money finding gifts suiting each and every girl. So far, as he can tell, everybody loved the gifts

Constantine's inky black eyes traced around the room, spying all of the girls chatting, laughing and playing with their new gifts they had unwrapped. Thirty out of the thirty-one of the troublesome adolescents were accounted for. The one not present was a certain redhead who wore round spectacles, about 5-foot-2 in height, and incessantly carried a frown on her heart-shaped face. The mystic didn't even have to guess what Chisame was doing right now.

"Man, and to think I went through so much to get this present for her."

Constantine took out another gift from underneath his seat. It was a medium-sized box wrapped in red decorated with green holly, tied together with a silky white ribbon into a bow. Asuna didn't have to guess who it was for.

"How come you didn't give it to her?" she asked.

"Didn't want to bother her," he answered.

"Why not?" she asked again.

"'Cause I don't like being bothered either," he answered again, something being implied in those words.

Asuna just stood for a while, her arms akimbo. And without any word she dashed off into the hallway. Before Constantine could call out to her he was once again interrupted.

"Oh, Mr. Leeeeeeeigh!" sang the cheerleading trio of Misa, Madoka and Sakurako, dressed in Santa's little helper dresses.

"Want some more cookies?" each of them holding out a plate of the sugar-flavored and frosting-decorated biscuits.

Constantine couldn't say no.

_In a certain redheaded computer nerd's room…_

Chisame proudly stared at the counter of her website as the numbers began to build sky-high. Her fanbase of hormone-enraged boys were drooling over their keyboards ogling her new Christmas-themed photos dressed in a skimpy Santa's helper dress. At the side of her desk was a small letter from her mom and dad, left unopened and unnoticed.

The success of her website was satisfying, for her pride maybe. But a larger part of her still felt…empty, longing, wanting, she was feeling…..lonely. She knew that her two teachers and classmates were downstairs having a nice party and all, but as usual she decided to back off from the peanut gallery.

Maybe she should go down there and mingle just a little bit, say "hi" to Leigh. Perhaps…

Before she could move, the door of her room burst open, indicating Chisame's habit of forgetting to lock her door. The culprit was none other than Asuna, with her mismatched irises focusing solely on the closet-case herself with full intent.

"Hey Chisame!" she greeted.

Releasing a small shriek of shock, Chisame bolted out of her chair and blocked the computer screen with her arms, while angrily glaring at the unwelcomed guest who barged in to her room.

"What the hell, Asuna?!" Chisame growled at her pigtailed look-alike, "How **dare** yo--,"

Before she had the chance to reprimand her intruder any further, the bell-haired girl grabbed a hold of her wrist, and forcefully yanked her from her desk. Before she knew it, Chisame was being towed down the halls. The background of the corridors raced past her eyes as the unbelievably fast Asuna dragged her down

"Asuna! What are you doing?! Lemme go!" Chisame frantically demanded.

Taking no heed of her classmate's protests, Asuna kept an iron hold on her arm as she kept sprinting down the hallways, Chisame felt as if she was a flag on the back of a race car. When she was at the brink of tossing her cookies, she finally found herself in the middle of the festivities. Each and every classmate halted their own activities to focus their attention on the new arrival in the room. All smiles greeted her the minute she was spotted.

"**Merry Christmas, Chisame!**" the entire class chorused together.

The Internet-mistress just stood there shell-shocked. Who would've thought they could just greet her so jovially?

"Hello, Chisame!" she heard a British-accented voice say to her. She looked down to see the little Welsh boy adorably smiling up at her, taking her hand into his. He gently led her down to an easy chair, right next to the fireplace. With the help of Mana and Kaede, she was plopped down on the seat. Then every girl gathered around, with Constantine standing over her like a tower, as she stared timidly at up his stony face.

"Nice to see you here, ya little scrooge," Constantine greeted her, holding the wrapped package in his hands. Before she had the chance to talk back, he promptly plopped it on her lap. Chisame just sat dumbfounded at the wrapped present before her.

"Well don't just gawk, Chisame, open it!" Asuna urged her.

Chisame silently examined the gift, silently contemplating whether or not this was a prank. In a single hand motion, she slowly pulled off the white ribbon. She then gently tore away the bright red and green packaging, but soon the anticipation got the best of her as Chisame began shredding the remains of the wrapping like a rabid animal. After the last piece was torn away, was a cardboard box, Chisame's breath had left her body as she recognized the company logo printed on it. It was a computer company that was famous for manufacturing the best-of-the-best computers, as well as for their overwhelming prices. She took a deep swallow of saliva as she lifted the lid…

Sitting in a bed of Styrofoam and in a sheet of bubble wrap was a widescreen laptop, at least 20 inches and almost 3 centimeters thick. It was plated with shiny, scarlet chrome that glimmered more brightly than the glass ornaments dangling from the Christmas tree. Embossing the plating was a filigree-tribal pattern that encircled a shiny pink heart embedded into the center like a jewel. The looks of the computer didn't speak for themselves too, as Chisame gawked at the performance details and programs that were written on a piece of paper that were installed within the little piece of technology. From the CPU to the video card, from the Anti-Viral software to the graphic designing software, each and every bit was top of the line. Best of all, the operating system was neither Microsoft nor Apple, it was pure **Linux**. The only one who knew of such technology and programs other than herself was two people in the room, Satomi and of course, Leigh.

To say that the laptop was lovely would be the understatement of the year. Chisame heart, body and soul were **floored** by the gift that sat on her lap like a newborn puppy. Engraved at the bottom was a message in elegant cursive that read…

_Merry Christmas Chisame, from all of us._

Chisame's fingers clutched the newfound computer, her arms shivering, her body trembling, her lips quivering, her _ahoge_ twitching. It was a brand new emotion that stabbed into her like a knife, was it a disease? Her throat felt cold and swollen, her muscles felt bunched up and contracted, and her reddish-brown eyes brimmed with hot tears. The lens of her glasses glazed over with light, making it impossible for anyone to see her reaction, sans a few people in the room who were willing to guess. Everyone cooed over the brand-new machine, some even patting on Constantine's back, complimenting him on his decision, but his's right eyebrow arched a few millimeters observing the still figure of Chisame. Something was not right…

"Chisame?"

"I can't accept it."

Every individual, even the cynic mystic himself, stood shell-shocked from the absolutely unprecedented reaction from the net idol.

"Y-y-you idiot! How can you buy something like this for me?!" Chisame ranted at him.

"You mean you don't like the gift, Chisame?" her blue-haired classmate, Akira.

"No! That's not it!" she shouted back, "Not in the way you're thinking. I just can't take something….so….so…." she couldn't put it in words.

"Chisame, listen---," Constantine started before the laptop was forcefully shoved into his hands and she bolted out of the chair.

"TAKE IT BACK!" she screamed at Constantine, "I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT IT!" With that, she dashed out of the lobby.

Silence reigned throughout the room, no one dared to utter a word or an "eep". Constantine still held the laptop in his hands, deprived of its sole owner.

Rolling up her sleeves with a snarl, "If she thinks she's gonna get away with this without even a 'thank you', I'll—" Asuna started about to go after her before Constantine clamped a hand on her shoulder. Asuna looked up at him, the anger in her suddenly gone as she understood the gentle expression on his face. Understanding that it would be best to let him handle this, Asuna backed off watching the tall man leave the room….

Chisame sat on her bed, knees tucked in to her torso, her throat hoarse and her heart swollen. Why did she have such a vehement reaction? Like she said before, it wasn't that she didn't like the present, it was, well, it was like she didn't deserve it. Why would Leigh go through all the trouble buying that elegant piece of hardware for her when she didn't bother buying any gifts, not even a card for him?

It was then out of the corner of her eye she spotted the letter from her parents. Why hadn't sehe opened that yet? Better now than never. Prying open the envelope she removed the card inside. It was your common Hallmark card accented with some glitter, a fancy design and a meaningful message on the inside. Apart from what was printed inside, there was a message written in pen, the handwriting she recognized as her mother's, with both of their signatures on the bottom.

"To our loving daughter, we're sorry you couldn't spend this Christmas with us. But no matter where you are and how far, we will always treasure you in our hearts. You're the greatest gift we can ever have."

With love, always,  
Mom and Dad.

Tears began to fill Chisame's eyes as she felt a stone made entirely out of guilt hit rock-bottom in her stomach. Pretty soon it would clog her insides like gallstones. Her parents, her classmates, Negi, Leigh, it feels as though she doesn't deserve them. She was nothing but worthless, selfish, vain…..

Then there was a knock on the door, much to her dismay, her voice box acted on its own when she said, "come in." Opening the door was none other than Constantine who silently strode in.

"You've calmed down?" he asked, his voice devoid of any emotion, no anger, no sadness, nothing. Typical Leigh Constantine.

Chisame didn't answer, quickly hiding the Christmas card out of view, underneath her pillow. Only a simple nod answered his question.

"I really made a fool out of myself out there, huh?" she asked timidly.

"In more ways than one," he put it bluntly.

Chisame looked down again, refusing to look up at him. She felt added pressure to the other side of her bed, indicating that Constantine has taken a seat next to her.

"I can understand if you were uncomfortable with all the attention," he began, but not in a tone of voice that would be lecturing her, "of course I didn't think you would wig out over a little present." To be honest, he half expected her to just say a silent "thanks" and just scurry out of the room like a mouse snatching a crumb of cheese.

"It's not the present, Leigh. It's lovely, I mean better than lovely, it was…perfect," Chisame admitted. She hadn't had such an advanced laptop since the very first her parents bought her, and the one she has now would be beyond her dad's salary.

"I just…I didn't feel I deserve something so…extravagant after being such a pill to everyone," said ashamedly, looking down. "You must've spent so much to get something like this for me."

"Yeah, quite a bit," Constantine said, "I had to do quite a bit of negotiating to have all of those parts installed into that thing and make the final price reasonable."

The stone of guilt felt a little heavier in Chisame's stomach.

"But you know what? This was all worth it because I thought you'd like the present, much less appreciate it. Chisame, you seem to forget the meaning of Christmas presents, the importance is not in the gift itself, it's in the intention of the gift. And just so you know, I didn't pay for the whole thing. Each and every one of your classmates and Negi pitched in some money to pay for the assembly, testing, shipping, handling, tax, you name it. Not because I asked them to, but because they wanted to." He looked deeper into her eyes, "It wasn't just a gift from me, it was a gift from **all** of us, in case you didn't read the fine print."

"Wow, they really like me, huh?"

"More than you know, took a while for me to get used to them too. They care about you Chisame, in fact," he might have to hit himself for this, "**I** care about you."

"Why can't you hate me? I didn't even get you anything, I even rebuked you and your present, I'm just—" Chisame was about to start.

She then felt his warm hand cup her chin and angled her head so she could look straight up at him, their glasses-framed clad meeting.

"Chisame, listen. I don't need any presents from you or anyone else for that matter. Knowing that all of you are there for me and supporting me till the very end, that's the best present I can ever have. I'm pretty sure everyone else would expect the same from you."

Chisame couldn't say a word. He was just a simple man on a complex journey with a twice as complex mind. Underneath that shaggy exterior, the ignorant face, the stuck-up, manipulative, irritating, derisive and (just simply) horse's-ass demeanor, there was a coarse but pure heart of gold. She spotted a glimmer of red from under her, looking down she saw her present, eagerly waiting for her to activate it. With trembling fingers, she took the device into her hands; it felt like an anvil in her little appendages. Before Constantine could count a second, he felt something soft and warm kiss his cheek, almost to the corner of his mouth. In the next second, Chisame drew back, the heels of her feet going back down to the floor as she needed to stand on the tips of her toes to reach his face.

"You're an idiot," she whispered to him, though it held no anger, "always have, always will be."

"But, I want you know that I...I…I…I do care for you," she finished, no hesitation, no force, nothing, it was pure sincerity in her words, "I always will."

"Now that's a Christmas present," he said to her.

With that, Constantine led her back to the lobby, Chisame carrying the laptop in her hands. There, each girl re-focused their attention back onto her, not knowing what to expect next from the net idol. Chisame stared at all of them in the eye, smiling softly at them. All the girls smiled back too, knowing that it was her way of saying "sorry".

With a smile and a thumb up, Asuna said "Good to have you back Chisame!"

Chisame looked at everyone and they looked back, fixated at her like an audience. They wanted to make her happy, despite the fact she has pushed herself away from them at every turn. Swallowing her pride, she stood proud and tall, which she was doing surprisingly well, with the laptop snug in her arms. Having friends…it was…it has…it is the greatest gift of all.

"I just want to say…thank you….all of you. I…this…this is amazing. Thank you, all for the gift," she said proudly, her voice so full of emotion, tears of gratefulness filling her rust-colored eyes.

"You're welcome, Chisame," her whole classmate said to her with equal joy in their voices. And all together they applauded to her. If she were a little bit younger, Chisame would be weeping on the floor. A comforting hand on her shoulder and a proud smile on Constantine's face helped stabilize her. She stared up back at him, a genuine smile adorning her heart-shaped face.

"Hey look guys!" Sayo called out, pointing her finger at something. The girls and Negi then stopped applauding as they looked up to where the ghost had pointed at, gasps escaping their mouths as they spotted a certain plant hanging above Constantine and Chisame.

Both of them looked up at the shrug dangling from the top of the doorway. It bore smooth-edged oval evergreen leaves that were in pairs along the woody stem, and waxy white berries in dense clusters. It could only mean the very plant from an age old custom of Christmas cheer. Chisame's cheeks turned a rosy red as blood began to seep into her face and her stomach felt as though there was a Yule log burning in the pits. She fearfully looked up at Constantine's face for any sign of reaction. His signature eyebrow cock confirmed her answer. A panic attack began to set, preparing to break her mental well-being, for the first time it was not caused by either spiders (Chisame had a potent, yet unexplained phobia of the silk-spinning arachnids) or someone finding out her secret hobby.

"Oh, no, Leigh, stop! Don't you dare! Once was enough! Wait, what are you do-**iiiiing!!!**" Chisame screamed as she felt his powerful arms wrap around her waist and shoulders as she was swung down, her back hovering only a few feet from the floor. Her face turned fire-engine red as her own eyes stared up his black ones, the lenses of their glasses almost touching each other. Her heart almost did a 360 when he spoke to her in almost a baritone-sort of voice.

"Loosen up, baby, it's Christmas," he promptly said as he dove his lips into Chisame's own, her screaming mutely being drowned out.

Each and every girl in the room gawked, squealed and screamed at the scene, some out of excitement and some out of protest. Asuna immediately shielded Negi's eyes, not wanting his big brother figure to see the atrocity he's committing on her classmate.

Ayaka was beside herself, "P-P-P-PROFESSOR CONSTANTINE, W-W-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!!" she screeched at the young adult who was digging his tongue down her classmate's throat.

"Ayaka's right, Mr. Leigh!" yelled Fuka, "Why don't you kiss us, too!"

"Yeah Leigh-Leigh! Give me some tongue!!" demanded Ku Fei.

"Me first! Me first!" said Makie.

"No! **Me**!" said Sakurako.

"I've been practicing! Let me through!" shouted Chizuru.

"Wait! Miss Konoka! You can't kiss Mr. Leigh too, this isn't proper!!!"

"Oh, come ooon, Setsuna!

"Come on Nodoka! Let's give Mr. Leigh some sugah!" ushered Haruna as pushed her timid friend forward.

"B-B-B-UT I DON'T WANNA, I—" Nodoka gibbered, no one actually listening to her.

"Y-Y-YOU ALL WANNA KISS PROFESSOR CONSTANTINE, TOO?!" an enraged Ayaka yelled, "WELL, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET BY ME, FIRST!!!" Heaven and Hell forbid denying her this only opportunity for her to receive her first kiss from a hot guy. Professor Negi will be the dessert later.

The net idol collapsed unconscious on the floor. Her glasses blank, some drool leaking from the side of her mouth, and, if one could look closely, a tiny trickle of blood leaking from her right nostril. The laptop was still safe in her arms and she hugged it to her body like a security blanket.

At the sidelines, two individuals, one Negi and one Asuna stood like two statues watching the hysteria unfold. Girl after girl pushing a shoving each other to make way for a holly jolly make-out session with the Conman underneath the mistletoe. Negi innocently stared at his students, curiously wondering why they were on him like a pack of ants on a crumb of sugar. Asuna just stared, her stoked mind considering if she wants to risk her life fighting against her classmates to pull Leigh out of there…..not that she wanted to kiss him too anyway.

In the corner of the room, yet another two individuals stood staring at the mob, a lime-haired gynoid and a blond vampiress sipping some dark red liquid in a martini glass. The android turned to her mistress.

"Should we join them, master?" asked Chachamaru.

Silence met her for a beat.

"……..sure why not?" said Evangeline.

* * *

_Later…_

The mage and his apprentice sat on one of the snow-topped branches of the World Tree, both dressed in appropriate snow clothing. Both the young man and the little boy oversaw the winter wonderland-scaped view of Mahora Academy. Constantine draped an arm over Negi's shoulders, his powerful hand hugging Negi close to him. While in the other hand was a necklace with a white dove's wing dangling on the chain. In Negi's hands he cupped another necklace, one with a silver cross of the Chi Rho. Two necklaces, both a gift to the other, a sign of their friendship, their companionship, their brotherhood, a mage and his apprentice.

"Thank you, for being here for me all this time, Leigh," Negi whispered softly to Constantine, emotion filling his small voice.

"I'll stay with you as long as it takes, 'Neg," he replied, he looked down at Negi, looking down right into his large mahogany eyes, "you **will** find him someday, I promise." It will be the ultimate gift from him.

"Merry Christmas…little brother."

"Merry Christmas…big brother."

And with that, Negi leaned his head on Constantine's side.

…..

And both were happy…

* * *

To all my readers here on thank you for reading. Consider this as my Christmas gift to you for your unconditional support for my writing. This is but the first steps I am taking in order to begin my future career as a novelist in the future. And everyone, happy holidays.


End file.
